A Horror In Disguise
by lifelover3
Summary: Kate is sick but is the sickness a clue to something more serious? TATE! Also, this is pre-Twilight so Kate is still alive.


I hope you enjoy my first story ever! I am a huge NCIS fan and I love all the characters from the older episodes and the newer ones. Please rate and constructive criticism is greatly appreciated (along with things you like, so I can make sure I don't change those things ).

Disclaimer: All previously existing characters taken from NCIS and used in fan fiction stories are owned solely by their respective copyright and trademark holders. I don't own them and I don't make any claim to them. No infringement intended. Please don't sue.

"Missing naval officer in Norfolk. Gear up!" barked Gibbs to his team.

"Kate?" asked a concerned Agent McGee. Kate had her head down on the desk, her eyes closed, and her chair was pushed out so far her body was at a forty-five degree angle.

"Oh…coming…sorry…," was the weak reply.

"Two things Agent Todd; first, don't apologize; it's a sign of weakness. Second, you are not going anywhere except down to autopsy to get checked out by Ducky," ordered Gibbs, "You look like crap."

"Thanks for your heartfelt concern Boss, but I'm fine," retorted Kate sarcastically.

"That was not a suggestion Agent Todd!" growled Gibbs as he walked into the elevator. "Waiting for an invitation DiNozzo? McGee?" The two agents scurried into the elevator just before the doors closed.

Kate walked over to the stairs and decided that it would be rather stupid to take the stairs in her condition. She then moved over to the elevator and proceeded to go down to autopsy.

"Ahh. Caitlin. What brings you here?"

"I am here on strict orders to get evaluated…Gibbs's orders," mumbled Kate, hoping that Doctor Mallard wouldn't notice the second half of that sentence and get too concerned considering Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs doesn't normally get concerned.

"Jethro sent you? Now that I think about it, you do look a bit flushed. What seems to be the problem?"

"I just feel a little sick Ducky; nothing to worry about. It's probably just a virus or something…" she said, trying to convince both her and Ducky that it was the truth.

Doctor Mallard didn't buy it. "Caitlin. The truth please…," he urged.

"Look you cannot tell anyone, especially Tony!" pleaded Kate, "He would torture me for the rest of my life!"

"Dear, you know that anything you say to me is confidential. I don't tell anyone anything without your consent."

"Fine, I'll tell you but it's really nothing to be concerned about."

"Still, I should know," remarked Ducky.

"I'm just having a really painful menstrual cycle okay? Like I said nothing to be concerned about…Oh gosh!"

"What is it my dear?"

"All of a sudden…my stomach…owe…hurts!"

"Lay down Caitlin. Relax. I'll take a look."

Just as Kate started to lie down on the morgue table she suddenly lurched forward and gagged. At that very moment, Gibbs came into autopsy to ask Doctor Mallard to do a psychological examination on the missing sergeant and saw his very ill agent bent over puking.

"Kate! Duck what's wrong with her?"

"I'm sorry Jethro. That is confidential."

"Damn it Ducky! My agent is throwing up, rather violently actually, and you won't tell me why!"

"Jethro I'm sorry," he repeated, "she doesn't want me to tell anyone. Anyone includes you."

At that moment a very angry Gibbs stormed out of the room, completely forgetting about the original reason for entering the morgue.

Suddenly, Kate was crying hysterically in a way that no one had seen her before. "Ducky," she sobbed, "there is something terribly wrong with me. I know it. This month my period was very painful and very heavy. I've been able to hide it up until now but I just can't hide it any more…"

"My dear, don't worry. I will take good care of you. I will get Abby to run blood and urine tests and we will know what is wrong with you within the hour. I promise."

As Kate got off of the morgue table her vision suddenly blurred and she blacked out. Ducky scrambled to call 911 and alert the rest of the team what happened, still making sure not to tell anyone what the problem originated from.

"SHE'S AWAKE!!!!!!!!" screamed a very worried forensic scientist. "Oh Kate we were all so worried about you. What's wrong? You scared us all to death. Ducky won't tell us what's going on. I didn't know anything was wrong with you until now! I should have known. This is my fault. You're like a sister and I didn't notice. How could I not notice? I just…"

"Abby…calm down. I'm fine. I just passed out. I didn't get shot or anything…owe…," replied Kate, hoping that no one noticed the quiet moan escape her lips.

"Kate! You are lying in a hospital bed in pain! It's most definitely not nothing!"

"Um…Caitlin may I have a word with you?" asked Ducky.

"Sure Ducky." After everyone left the room Ducky continued.

"We need to talk about your condition. I think there is something you are not telling me…"

"What do you mean Ducky? Why would I hid something from you?" she replied.

"I think something else happened that you are not telling me. You are in critical condition right now. You are in the ICU because you need constant monitoring due to the extreme continuous loss of blood. Caitlin, this is not the time to hide something."

"I…" and with that Kate's vitals dropped and her blood pressure became dangerously low. Doctor Mallard noticed an ever-growing blood spot forming on the hospital sheet.

Doctor Mallard ran into the hallway and yelled, "I need a nurse and 2 liters of O negative stat!!!" A nurse came running in with the blood and successfully got Kate's vitals back up, but she was still bleeding.

_As soon as Caitlin wakes up I need to talk to her and let her know how serious this is._ Thought Ducky.

A few hours later the bleeding was temporarily stopped and Kate was allowed visitors. Doctor Mallard made some excuse to leave and he quickly strode away from the group and entered Kate's room.

"Caitlin? Can I come in?"

"Uh…huh…" came a very groggy voice that hardly resembled Kate's normal tone.

"You know where Ari is don't you? He comes to see you every night. Right?"

"Yes." With that Kate began to cry again and Ducky walked over and sat by her bedside.

"He comes in and rapes you every night. Doesn't he?"

"Yes." She added with a sniffle. "How did you know?"

"You weren't having a horrible menstrual cycle. The blood and pain were coming from the same place as normal but it would have stopped if it was a menstrual cycle. The blood continued because you have extensive damage to your vagina that is taking a long time to heal. It causes pain due to repeated forced entry. You know I have to tell Gibbs about this don't you?"

"No. Please don't. I am a federal agent. I can take him down without anyone knowing."

"Caitlin. You don't have to deal with this alone. We are here for you. It will be easier to get through this with the help of friends."

"Fine, but you tell them. I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay. I'll be right back."

"I'm sorry I didn't mention it earlier but I wanted to be sure…"

"It's not your fault Duck. Kate should have come to us." Everyone looked at Gibbs and was surprised to see him holding back tears. Although, at that moment everyone was more than a bit shocked. No one really knew what to say or do. DiNozzo was the first to speak up.

"Lets get this…" right then he turned around and punched the wall. "I'm sorry. I just don't know what to say. I don't know whether I should be more concerned about how we didn't notice it, about what I can do to help her or about catching Ari."

"Lets' go talk to her," suggested Abby.

"Good idea."

Everyone went to talk to Kate, except for Tony. He couldn't face her. He didn't want to say something stupid. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to say. He just sat down on the waiting room chair and cried.

Back in Kate's hospital room:

"Kate we are all here for you. We will set up surveillance at your house and tonight when Ari comes to look for you we will catch him and take him down," said Gibbs.

"Thanks, but not all of you are here for me. Where's Tony? I want to see him. I want… I need to talk to him alone."

"Okay. Come on guys we have a bastard to catch. Kate, I'll send Tony in," said Gibbs when he noticed Kate's begging eyes.

When Tony came in his eyes were red and puffy. Kate couldn't believe it. The fun loving guy she knew and loved didn't have that annoying smirk or the evil gleam in his eyes.

_He really cares about me._ Thought Kate. _But does he feel the same way about me as I feel about him…_

"Tony. I need to talk to you. There is something I want you to know. I don't know if you feel the same way about me but I need to get this off my chest right now. Tony…I really like you, not just as coworkers, or even friends. It definitely wasn't an immediate feeling. When I first saw you on Air Force One I thought it was going to be torture when I took the job at NCIS and agreed to work with you and Gibbs. I took the job because I needed a job and I needed money. After these 2 years I feel like I really know you well enough to say something I have never said before. Tony…I love you."

There was a very awkward silence after that and Kate thought she had messed up really well this time. But after what seemed like forever Tony said something that shocked Kate.

"Finally," and his normal smirk slowly spread across his face. "I've been waiting forever for you to say that so I could say this. Kate, I love you too. I got up the courage to say that a few times but then I thought about how mad you would be at me if I mentioned it after all the things that happened to you but now that we have a point of agreement I can do this…"

At that moment Tony leaned over and gave the most passionate kiss to Kate he had ever given a woman before. All too soon their lips parted and DiNozzo said, "Screw rule #12" as he climbed into the hospital bed and hugged Kate. Soon after they both fell asleep, Kate from all of the drugs and Tony from all of the stress of the day, and they rested peacefully.

At around one o'clock in the morning Gibbs swung by the hospital to tell Kate they found and took down Ari and to find out where his senior field agent was. He got a huge shock when he walking into the hospital room and saw Kate fast asleep with her head on Tony's chest and Tony just looking up at him. Gibbs sighed and walked out, making a mental note to remind them of rule #12, but at the same time thinking "finally!"

Once Kate recuperated and was back at work, the relationship between the two agents grew stronger, but always keeping their professional and private lives separate. The only thing that changed was her belly and on September first she gave birth to two healthy babies, Sasha Caitlin DiNozzo and Michael Anthony DiNozzo.


End file.
